Outsourcing training: a choice more & more companies make

Studies show that 58% of US corporate training budgets are allocated to external service providers, versus 42% in-house. The share of external service providers increased in 2015 to 46% of companies. Most often it is the design and development of training courses that are outsourced to training professionals, as much as the training itself.

Outsource training, reduce costs

Outsourcing continued vocational training to external and independent providers is a way for companies to develop quality training for a lower cost, while also increasing productivity through optimizing in-house human resources. Furthermore companies see it as an opportunity to benefit from expert advice, even if some also fear difficulties arising from controlling providers, becoming dependent, or hidden costs.

Ensure sufficient resources

Yet why outsource when a company could recruit a new team internally to manage certain HR functions such as training? Recruiting means training new employees to become operational. Even the training department employees need to be trained! Inevitably this takes time and money. So if your deadlines are tight and may be exceeded by recruiting a new team, it’s better to outsource.

Mitigate risk

Training is a vital process for many companies. But how many have it as a core skill? If you are not an e-learning professional, developing an online training course (from analysis to technical support, scripting and development) can be complex! Without the right approach, you might expose yourself to negative feedback. To limit this risk, many companies outsource e-learning, which requires, in particular, that the trainers themselves undergo continuous learning.

Train your team in the optimal timeframe

Hi-tech industries for example, regularly launch new products to market. They typically use external service providers to create e-learning courses to tight deadlines, which must be issued to sales teams in optimal time.